Checkers Little Shop

A native smartphone app with 3D models and animations like Snapchat.

The Brief

Users redeem mini products at Checkers, and scan them with the app to unlock filters.

Checkers Little Shop mini products were such a hit with consumers in 2016 that the retail giant wanted to expand on it with a second phase in the form of a specially developed augmented reality app. The app needed to incorporate the mini products and be highly engaging, enabling

users to unlock funny face filters for each of the 30 participating brands. In addition to designing the tech, we had the opportunity to guide the brands in terms of what was possible, and provide ideas for how the filters could work to promote each product in a fun way.

How We Solved It

We built our own face-tracking tool and improved the openCV and dLib software.

Licenses for existing face tracking technology are expensive, so we built our own face-tracking tool which had to be optimised for smooth and accurate tracking of facial contours. We used openCV with dLib facial landmark detection however the performance was not as good as we wanted it to be. We created a work-around by building in filtering logic with Kalman filters, and used optical flow with the Lucas-Kanade method

to improve the smoothness of the detection. This was done on top of the Unity 3D platform. We also created animations that are triggered by smiling, pouting or opening your mouth, making the filters even more engaging. In addition, we introduced clever methods and timing to reduce battery usage without compromising on quality. In the end, we produced an even more battery-efficient app than the likes of Snapchat.

Core Features

Collect minis in-store and fill up your pantry

Scan your mini to unlock the face filter

Snap and share your funny face filters

We didn't quite have the right partner until we met 4i. From a UX (User Experience) perspective, and from a design perspective, 4i helped us to take something that was just a good idea on paper, and execute it really well for our customers.